Kingdom Hearts: The Long Lost
by RoxasHart
Summary: Jayza is a girl who lives in a world covered in darkness. Legend tells of a hero who once fought with the mythical Keyblade, but that was long ago. After many years, it's time for a new hero to emerge and unlock the secrets of the past.
1. Prologue: Legends

"Jayza, tell me the story."

"Again, Rix?" I pull the blanket over my little brother's body. At six years old, getting Rix to stay in bed is an adventure. He would just keep going until he fell down asleep if he could. It seems that the only thing that calms him down is the story. I'm not sure why. Normal kids don't find it very relaxing.

"Please."

"Okay, but you have to promise to stay in bed if I do." Rix nods his head vigorously. I pull a chair up to his bed and sit. "A long time ago, long before most people can even remember, there was a boy named Sora. He and his friends were great champions for the light. They battled the darkness with powerful weapons…"

"The Keyblades!" Rix squeals.

"Yes, The Keyblades. Great weapons with the power over hearts. The could be used to lock up the darkness or unleash it. Sora fought many enemies, the Heartless and Nobodies, all to protect the light and keep safe the greatest power of all, Kingdom Hearts. But there was one who proved to be the greatest threat of all, Master Xehanort. Once a Keyblade wielder himself, he was the source of all the danger. His Heartless, Ansem, and his Nobody, Xemnas, both waged wars to try to capture Kingdom Hearts. Both were defeated by Sora. But in the end, the two halves reformed into the original Master Xehanort. Once again, he went after Kingdom Hearts. And Sora battled him along side his friends. The final battle was great and terrible. In the end, Sora lost. Xehanort was able to open the door to Kingdom Hearts and unleash the darkness inside."

Rix pushes himself deeper into his blanket. His eyes are trained on me, unmoving. "The darkness was too strong, even for Xehanort and he was swept up into it, along with Sora and the other Keyblade wielders. The darkness settled over all the worlds, smothering the light. Sora and the others could not be found. Some say they were killed along with Xehanort. But others say that Sora is sleeping. Trapped in the darkness, but protected by the light and waiting to be awoken so that he can put the darkness back behind the door. And we wait for him."

"Thank you, Jayza." Rix turns to his side, causing his blanket to fall part of the way off him.

"You're welcome." I reach over to tuck him back in. "Why do you always ask me to tell you the story? You've heard it hundred of times already."

Rix's eyes start to close. "Because the story isn't finished yet." And then he's asleep.

I get up out of the chair and walk into the other room, trying to shake the feeling of unease that always settles on me whenever I tell the story. I wish Rix wouldn't ask for it as often as he does, but I can't deny him when he does. It's a story of despair, that is supposed have hope. I just can't find any these days.

I open the front door and step out on the porch. I sit down on the step and scan the beach in front of me. The waves lightly crash onto the sand, barely making a sound with no wind to push them. The water is dark, a perfect reflection of the pitch black sky.

"If you really are out there Sora, I wish you would wake up."


	2. Chapter 1: A Story Not Uncommon

They say there used to be stars once. An entire sky full of them. Little points of light amid the vast field above our heads. They also said that each star was another world. But who knows if those stories are true. There is no one alive who can remember the stars. Like Sora, they are only legends.

And I don't have time to focus on legends. I have to worry about feeding myself and a younger brother. That is a full time job, especially when food is scarce. Luckily, I know how to fish. The dark waters don't produce the best fish, but they are edible and have been keeping us alive for years. Ever since we were left on our own.

Ours is a story that is not uncommon. Our parents, along with countless others', disappeared. No one can say for sure what happened to them, but everyone knows. It's the same for everyone. Heartless attacks always take people. They come from the great walls of darkness that surround us at all times and disappear into the same walls. The people who are taken are never heard from again. Perhaps some small part of them remains as a Heartless, just like the legends say, but who can say for sure.

It's probably not safe to be out in my boat alone right now, but our supplies are running low so I don't have a choice. I won't be out long, just enough to catch dinner for the next couple of days and then I will head back to Vacant Sands, our island. They say that it had another name once, but no one remembers it.

They say a lot of things. Like thinking about the things that no one can even remember will somehow distract them from thinking about what our lives are like now. Maybe in those long lost days, our island was a beautiful place, but it no longer is. Thinking about that won't get food on the table. It won't stop the Heartless from taking us away. It won't change anything. So why bother?

I haven't gotten a bite in a while, so I decide to head back earlier than I had planned. Rix is always worried when I am out fishing and I don't need him worrying when he doesn't have to. Looking over at my catch, I am a little disappointed. It isn't a very good haul at all. But it will last us a few days, if I skip a couple of meals. As long as I make sure that Rix is getting enough, I'll be fine.

I quickly row the boat towards the lights coming from the houses on the beach. They are the only sign that I am going in the right directions, so whenever I go out on the water, I make sure that I always stay to where I can see them. It's the only small comfort that I have when I am forced to be out there.

On the beach, I start to unload my disappointing catch of the day, when a rumble starts to come from the sky. I've only heard this noise a couple times in my life. Every time I have, I've run away as fast as I could. It's a sound that can only mean one thing. Heartless.

My heart starts to pound. My house is on the other end of the beach from the docks. I will never make it there in time. The Heartless will be on me before I can get halfway there. Then what will become of me. Will I disappear, just like my parents? Just like everyone else. What will become of Rix if that happens to me? Why now?

I drop the fish back in the boat and completely forget about them. What good is fish going to do me when the Heartless attack? I start to run. Maybe, if I run hard enough, I can make it to one of the neighbors' houses for shelter. When it comes to the Heartless people tend to think of only themselves, but surely someone will take pity on me, a 15 year old girl who has a brother to take care of.

Sand flies behind me as I run. I want to scream, but I'm afraid that it might attract the wrong attention. It's best if I just keep running until I reach a door.

But I can tell it's already too late. The rumbling in the sky is gone. It has been replaced by the squeaky sounds of the creatures I have only seen a couple times in my life. They are short, blobby looking creatures that walk on thin legs with antenna coming from their heads. Few people have seen them and survived to tell about them, but I've seen them through windows before. I can tell they are getting closer because the squeaking sounds are getting louder.

I feel like crying. But I don't have that luxury right now. I have to keep running or they will overtake me.

But it doesn't matter. Three of them jump high over my head and land in front of me. I stop, shooting sand with my feet before running right into their waiting arms. I am completely surrounded. They move around me, tightening the circle that they have formed.

What are these creatures? They don't speak, but they are obviously smart. It's like their only motivation is to hunt. To track down people. Do they really steal people's hearts right from their bodies? What do they do with them then?

A new sound comes from the sky. It's not the same rumbling that announces the arrival of the Heartless. It's more of a whistle. High pitched. Even the small creatures stop and look above us.

In the middle of the dark blanket, there is a small light. Is that what a star is supposed to look like? No, it can't be. A star isn't supposed to be moving closer. Or getting brighter. It's moving faster and faster until the light blinds me. I can only hold up my hand to block my eyes that have never seen a light this bright before.

The light fades, swallowed by the darkness again. I can finally see. Uncovering my eyes, I find that the Heartless are no longer surrounding me. They have been thrown back far from me. They seem a little disoriented, shaking their big heads. Pretty soon, they will be ready to attack again.

In the middle of the circle that the Heartless used to be making, something is sticking out of the sand. It wasn't there before. Is that what made the light? Did it fall from the sky? What is it?

I should be running away, but I can't. My curiosity is keeping me here. I have to know what this thing is.

I walk up to it. The tip of it is buried in the sand but there is a handle at the top of it. It's rounded and black, with red trimming. I take the handle and pull whatever it is free from the sand. With the tip free, I can finally see the whole thing.

I've seen pictures of similar things in books that barely survived over the years. The few drawings that survived are the only proof that these ever existed.

"A Keyblade."


	3. Chapter 2: Long Hidden

I slice the blade across the belly of a Heartless that jumps at me. It disappears into a puff of black smoke and blows away in the end. The fighting is coming naturally. I have the blade in my hand. It is made for destroying the Heartless. It is a simple connection to make. I may not be handling the blade that well, but I am doing well enough to keep the creatures away from me.

This is the first time in many years that the Heartless have met any kind of resistance. They aren't backing down though. I don't think they are smart enough to realize that they should run away from me. They only seem to be interested in attacking me, not that I am destroying them as they come.

One of the creatures melts into the ground. A pool of shadows races towards me. I jump back, leaping over another Heartless. The first one comes out the ground again to stand next to the one I just jumped over. Another one runs across the beach, joining the first two. They look like they are all going to attack at the same time.

Desperate, I throw the Keyblade at them. It spins fast in their direction. The handle hits one of them, sending it flying far down the beach. The other two aren't as lucky. The blade slices right through them, leaving only smoke in its path.

In a flash of light, the blade appears back in my hand. I turn in a quick circle, waiting for the next attack. It doesn't come. There are no more Heartless standing around me. I have managed to beat them all.

"Jayza! Jayza!" A voice yells out.

I turn to see Mella, the old lady who lives next door to us, running towards me. I head towards her as fast as I can.

"Jayza, how did you survive? I heard the rumbling and ran for my house. I saw you running through the window. I was going to call for you, but then I saw the Heartless. How are you still here?"

"I don't know, Mella." I hold up the Keyblade. It is shaking, my hand no longer steady now that the fight is over. "This appeared on the beach just as the Heartless were attacking. I took it and just fought as hard as I could."

Mella gasps and places a hand over her heart. "A Keyblade. A real one." Her voice is filled with awe.

Movement behind Mella catches my eye. It's another Heartless, the one that I knocked back earlier. It wasn't destroyed and it didn't run off. I can't let it stay here. If I don't destroy it, others could come to meet it and start the fight all over again. I can't let that happen. Not now that I have a way of stopping them from taking us away.

I grab Mella by her shoulders. "Mella, please go to my house and get Rix. Please take care of him for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Wait, Jayza, don't run off. There's no telling what could happen."

"I have a weapon the can destroy those creatures now. I have to stop them." I sound a lot more confident than I really am. But I am not as helpless as I was an hour ago. Not with the Keyblade in my hand.

I run away before Mella can say another word. "Please, just watch Rix for me. I'll be back soon," I call to her as I run.

The creature that I saw is not running towards me, but away. Maybe it is smart enough to know when it is beaten. But I follow. I am going to put an end to this attack. And when the next one happens, I will be there. The Heartless will no longer take us. There will be no more orphans in Vacant Sands.

I am heading to a part of the beach that hardly anyone goes to anymore. The lights from the nearby homes don't reach this far back, so it is hard to see. But I can make out the area pretty well. It's almost as if the Keyblade is lighting the way for me. I can see all the things that have been over looked for years.

A pile of old wood lays piled up against a wall of rock. There are still some pieces hanging from a tree. It looks like it's all that's left of what used to be a treehouse. Didn't someone once tell me that his whole island used to be a playground? It seems like a ridiculous place to have a playground, but times must have been very different then. Back when this place wasn't covered in darkness.

The Heartless is still running from me. It jumps into this little ditch, that looks like it used to be a small pool of water, but has long ago dried up. It jumps back on the rocks and then seems to run right into a wall. I keep running, knowing that I won't be rid of this monster so easily.

Sure enough, as I get closer to the wall, I find that there is a small hole in the rock. It's hard to see but it is definitely there. Without thinking, I run into the hole.

The path is a little small for me, I have to stoop down just to keep from hitting my head on the rocky ceiling. In the close confines of this path, it's like the darkness is surrounding me. But not like in the sky. It's like the darkness is actually made up of black clouds. The light from my Keyblade seems to be pushing the clouds away from me. And not just pushing it back, but dissolving it.

The path opens up into a small room. It's still too dark to see everything in it, but it is slowly getting lighter in here. There right in front of me is the Heartless I've been chasing. I don't give it a change to move, just cut right through it, leaving nothing behind.

I take a deep breath, my job finished. Now I need to get out of here and get back to Rix. There is no telling how worried he is right now.

I turn back towards the path that will lead me out of here and notice the walls. It is light enough for me to see all the drawings on them. They are very old and most of them are faded, but I can still make them out. There is one that looks like two kids feeding each other something that looks like stars.

I wish I could stay longer, so that I could look at all the different drawings, but I don't have time. I make myself turn away to leave and scream.

I am not alone in this small room. I couldn't see anyone when I first came in here, but that was before that darkness moved away. It must have been covering this person the whole time.

I step closer and I can tell it's a girl. She looks to be around my age, maybe a couple years older. She didn't move at the sound of my scream, so I'm afraid she might be dead. But she isn't. I can see her chest moving up and down as she breaths. It looks like she is just sleeping. But how long could she have been down here. I can tell just by looking around that no one has been in the place for a very long time. Then how did this girl get here.

The Keyblade hanging at my side starts to make this ringing noise. It's not very loud, but enough to echo inside this small room. The tip starts to glow dimly. Before I can do anything, the blade shoots off a beam of light. The beam hits the girl where she is sleeping and then disappears.

Her reaction is immediate. She gives off a little moan and stretches out a little.

I don't even take a minute to wonder what is going on. I am pretty sure that I would not understand it even if there was someone to explain it to me. I kneel by the girl's side and put my hand on her arm. She is warm to the touch. I'm surprised. I would think that if she were really covered by darkness for that long, she would have no warmth left. "Are you okay?"

The girl makes another moan and her eyes begin to open. "…ra…" Her voice is barely a croak and very hard to understand. "…en…"

"Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"

Her eyes open all the way and turn to look directly into mine. "My name…is Aqua."


End file.
